International Journal of African and Asian Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2409-6938 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.43, 2018 The Networks of Social Infrastructure Linked with Jamaat–e-Islami in Bangladesh Upendra Kumar PhD Scholar, Dr. K.R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), New Delhi, India Abstract This paper claims that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami heavily invests in building social infrastructure in the country. Indeed, building social infrastructure by religion based political party like Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has a deep implication in terms of social and political sphere. Through the facilitation of various social services and welfare works, the party aspires to garner support of the people for its political legitimacy and accessibility in the society of Bangladesh. The social infrastructure provides a legitimate space in which the party tries to expand its popular base and change the secular characters of the country into Islamic state. In the first half of the paper, a short description of the party and discourse on building social infrastructure, resources etc. are delineated, and in the second half, the party linked organisations, institutions and programmes are given in detail. In this paper, primary sources such as government and organisational reports, and secondary sources have been used. Moreover, online newspapers and various websites of the concerning organisations and institutions have been accessed to prepare this paper. Keywords: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh, Social infrastructure, Sharia Law, Fundamentalism, Islamism, Welfare work, Islami Bank Foundation, Ibn Sina Trust, Islamic State. 1. Introduction The term “social infrastructure” stands for facilities, services and programmes which improve quality of life involving human capital formation. The term comprises the facilities and programmes which are related to schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, community health centres, housing and so on. Social infrastructure overtly and covertly provides space to connect beneficiaries with the organisation which build it, and the connections and networks might be very potential for a political party which is deeply engaged with building the social infrastructure. In this context, it would be very noteworthy to study the involvement of Islamist political party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in building social infrastructure in Bangladesh. The efforts of the party have various dimensions, especially, in the context of the socio-political landscape of Bangladesh. The nation is a Muslim dominated and politically and socially polarised to a certain extent (Taj Hashmi 2015). More than 90 percent population of the country is Muslim while remaining population is religious communities such as Hindu, Buddhist and Christian (Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh-2012). Its polity is fragmented on the basis of secularism and Islamism. After the demise of the military-junta regime 1 and restoration of democracy in earlier part of 1990s, the country has been ruled by two main political parties namely Awami League (AL) and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Both parties represent dissimilar political ideology and national identity. The former’s ideology is “Bengali Nationalism” while the later adopted “Bangladeshi Nationalism.” The national identity is severely divided between “Bengali” and “Bangladeshi”. Amid these social and political settings, the Jamaat has been struggling to establish itself as a major Islamist political power in the politics of the country. So that it can convert the political system of the country into Islamic state 2(Karlekar 2005, 137). 2. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which is also a religious organisation and movement, is a biggest religion-based political party in Bangladesh. Originally, Jamaat-e-Islami was established in 1941 in Lahore with the objective to establish ‘Islamic State’ in Indian subcontinent. But after the partition of India in 1947, Jamaat-i- Islami was divided as Jamaat-i-Islami Hind and Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan in 1948. Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan opposed the liberation of Bangladesh (1971) because any split of Pakistan was against pan-Islamism in which it had faith. It collaborated with Pakistani army and committed genocide against Bengali people and intellectuals during the Liberation war of 1971 (Karlekar 2005). After the emergence of Bangladesh as a separate nation state, the Jamaat-e-Islami was banned to take part Notes: 1 After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, a military- junta regime came into power and it continued under Ziaur Rahman and Muhammad Irshad, respectively till the restoration of democracy in 1990. 2 It is a type of governance and political system based on the enforcement of Sharia law. 56 International Journal of African and Asian Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2409-6938 An International Peer-reviewed Journal Vol.43, 2018 in any political activities of the country. Because, its vision to establish ‘Islamic State’ did not match with the four fundamental principles namely Secularism, Nationalism, Democracy and Socialism, of the Constitution of Bangladesh 1972. Indeed, the communal appeal of the party undermined the aspiration of secular ethno-Bengali nationalism and the secular character of the state. During the military-junta regime, the character of the state and constitution changed from secularism to Islamism. As a result, the Jamaat got recognition as a political entity. The regime patronised it for political purpose and lifted the ban on the Jamaat. Those leaders and workers, who had, previously, worked for the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing established Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in 1979. It began to participate in national politics of the county and in 1991 played crucial role in the formation of BNP led government when democracy was reinstated in the country. More importantly its two leaders got portfolio in the BNP-led the four-party alliance government (2001-2005). Its organisational structure and ideology are not very different from the Pakistani Jamaat-i-Islami. It desires to replace the existing political system and social structure with the Islamic State. Additionally, the party has challenged the official narrative of the Liberation War and the foundational principles of Bangladesh. Its fundamental ideology, i.e. Islamism, is directly opposed to the ideology of the AL, i.e. Mujibism.3 The Jamaat has resorted patronage politics to deepen its social base in the country. There are various socio- culture and economic organisations of the party through which it has been trying to popularise its ideology among rural and urban masses. The socio-economic base of the Jamaat-e-Islami is very strong in the country. It has a strong student organization known as the Islamic Chatra Shibir, whose members basically come from Qawmi madrassas. The Jamaat has set up madrassas, hospitals, universities, orphanage centres and so on. It also runs coaching centres to help poor students get into admission in various professional courses and to be successful in competitive examinations. Apart from these, the establishment and expansion of Islamic NGOs, Islamic Banks, clinics and the micro credit program of the Jamaat-e-Islami have helped it to reach out to a large constituency. The welfare measures and social infrastructure undertaken by the Jamaat-e-Islam has been a means to reach to its end of establishing an Islamic State (Nasr 1994). 3. Discourse The involvements of the Jamaat in creating alternative social infrastructure in the country have been strategic initiative to bring changes in socio-political and cultural belief of the people of the country according to Sharia law. In the 1958 during an election campaign in Pakistan, Syed Abul Ala Maududi4 illustrated the importance of socio-economic and cultural organisations and their works: It brings intellectual change in the people; secondly [it] organises them in order to make them suitable for a movement. Thirdly, it reforms society through social and humanitarian work, and finally it endeavours to change the leadership. Once the leadership had been won over to Islam the Jamaat taking power the society would be Islamized and all socioeconomic maladies would be automatically cured. Education and propaganda were therefore singled out as the principles agents for furthering the revolutionary struggle (quoted in Nasr 1994). The networks of social infrastructure of the Jamaat should be understood in the context of above mentioned Maududi’s design to bring total change in society on the basis of Sharia law. In essence, the socio-cultural organisations, institutions and infrastructure are the part of the strategy to achieve the political aims of the party. The large Islamic educational institutes such as Islamic universities, madrassa education system, and various research centres like Maududi Research Sansad and Centre for Strategy & Peace Studies are basically exertions to bring intellectual change according to the Jamaat’s ideology in Bangladesh. Liberal political theorists construe that investment in building social infrastructure, and welfare work of religion based political party like the Jamaat-e-Islami has big political implications. According to liberal political theory, the Jamaat’s involvement in the formation of socio-economic and cultural organisations is a political tool to be successful in the electoral politics (Bano 2012). The motive of the Jamaat is to garner electoral supports through expanding